Out of the twenty-six candidates running for the position of Toronto’s next Mayor, six of the candidates had the first debate at Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough. Another debate which was a three hour live debate took place on CP24 on May 18 2010 which included the same six candidates of the first debate even though there are twenty-six candidates. In both debates, questions were addressed from the public. Some of the main issues the public presented included- TTC, Taxes, Bike Lanes and Homelessness. How did each one of the six candidates show their support for these issues?
The six candidates in the debates are Joe Pantalone, Rob Ford, Rocco Rossi, Girgio Mamoliti, Sarah Thomson and Geroge Smitherman. In the first debate, a question that was asked was: Why do you want to be a mayor? It is important to know the intentions of why each of the candidates that were present in the debate is running to be Toronto’s next mayor. Rossi responded by welcoming the crowd in ten languages, Mamoliti responded by saying he wants to help “urban suburbs” , demolish the Gardiner, impose a curfew for children under fifteen, uploading both the TTC and welfare to the province as well as helping seniors from property taxes where Pantalone said he wants to fight for Transit city. Ford used his motto which is “better customer services” and slashing vehicle registration tax. Rocco responded saying there is a need of special neighbourhoods and to fund inequities that perpetuate imbalances. Thomson said she wants to build a subway system and Smitherman said he wants to be the Mayor because he loves the city.
When addressed about bike lines- Mamoliti said he would stop all lanes as he feels bike lanes should be called for a halt on all new lanes until cyclists adhere for the rules of the road saying they don’t have the right to be kicking cars. Pantalone said he wants lanes to be safe. Rocco said that there should be no bike lanes on major arterials, especially Jarvis. Ford says he opposes bike lanes in the suburbs but likes them downtown. Thomson said that she wants a full grid of bike lanes across city while Smitherman said that Rossi has gone from war on the car to war on the bike. Another public issue was the Environment. Rocco Rossi who wants to sell the Toronto Hydro received negative remarks from Smitherman who says a city that is interested in green should not sell Toronto Hydro. Rob Ford talks about trees and how he would cancel a law making it hard to cut down a tree on your own property when asked about his environmental plans. When the topic of TTC came up, there are many different opinions among the candidates. The proposed Light Rail Transit line that is on Sheppard which is part of Transit City- Ford, Thomson and Mammoliti favoured a subway line instead while Smitherman and Pantalone supported the LRT. Pantalone found Fords statement wrong of the LRT being just a fancy name for streetcars calling them fast trains that were more viable and enjoyed the support of the areas councillors.
When asked about housing issues, Pantalone linked issues of housing to transit while Thomson said she would like partnerships with organizations like Habitat for Humanity to build housing at lower costs. Ford responded that the money lost to waste could be used to subsidize housing for private homes and expressed his desire to clean neglected school housing units. Rossi said that economic growth would be a solution to housing problems and he wants services placed near public housing to provide education, immigration resources and language skills. Smitherman responded that the government should have the bigger role where it must come as cold comfort to those who are on social housing waiting list to know that the only option for them is to have a massive economic growth. These were some of the questions addressed at the first mayoral debate of some of the concerns the public had.
On May 18th on the three hour mayoral debate the public had the same topics for the six of the twenty-six candidates running for the mayor position. The topics were the same from the first debate of- Homelessness, TTC, Taxes and Bike Lanes. When the topic of TTC came up, Geroge Mamoliti said the TTC is the core service of the city and how he is a big supporter of transit. He is impressed of the developments such as the subway construction happening at York University. He believes in creating urban regions and that the Sheppard to Eglinton station line is very important. Rocco Rossi said that Toronto has one of the world’s best transits where there are not only subways in the mix but busses as well. Sarah Thomson said that we need to build/extend subways now instead of planning for the years to come. Joe Pantalone said that the provincial and federal have not done good job in regional planning and Transit city is a solution. He believes regional transit is a good plan and that it should be paid by the province. Girgio Mamoliti said that it is time for the province to pitch in to the GTA system. He believes public corporations should be encouraged to support the GTA system including the private sector. Rob Ford says that it all comes down to money when thinking of expanding the TTC as subway carts are very expensive. He says that the costing must be spent correctly and we should support subways and put streetcars on the back burner and stop passing the buck.
When the candidates were asked about the issue of homelessness and what their plans to help the homeless get back into the community, Thomsan responded saying that we need to let non profits into the shelters because they can do a better job. Smitherman said that it was time to challenge ourselves to ensure people are given the support we need. He also said that we need to address things like mental health and addiction. Pantalone said that affordable housing is important as Mammoliti said we need to amalgamate services not dismantle them. He also said that we need to have one stop shopping for people who need it. He said that he puts his name onto a report leading us into the next 10 years on the issue and that finally he is a firm believe that if somebody is suffering from a mental illness we need to have support for them. Rossi responded saying that experienced politicians haven’t matched compassion with competence. Fore example St Peter is costing over 300k a bed and that this money could buy a condo. Ford also said that we need to get the kids of the streets. When asked how the candidates are going to engage the public in the planning process, Rossi replied saying that it is by planning our neighbourhoods. He also said that there has to be clarity and consistency in planning and that there are opportunities to learn from other cities in which we need to accommodate increased density over the next few years. When asked as a mayor how you could create affordable home ownership opportunities Ford replied saying that the easy solution to this is subsidize the rent and put them into private apartment building. Rossi replied saying importance on partnering with non profit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Salvation Army.
These are just some of the main issues that were addressed at both debates. There are still twenty other candidates running for the Mayor of Toronto with great ideas. Have the six of the twenty-six candidates running for the mayoral position impressed you? Make sure you vote for the candidate you believe will make Toronto a better city on Oct 25 2010
